Amarillo Sod Poodles named 2019 AGN Media Headliner of the Year

David Gay @DavidGayAGN

Sunday

Jan 12, 2020 at 12:01 AM

According to Tony Ensor, the president and general manager of the Amarillo Sod Poodles, the team’s inaugural 2019 season was “The Perfect Season.”

The Sod Poodles, the Double A affiliate of the San Diego Padres, had an eventful first year in its home city, starting the year by naming Phillip Wellman as the inaugural manager and naming the stadium “Hodgetown” after Maxor Pharmacy owner Jerry Hodge, and ending it with a Texas League championship title, Amarillo’s first since 1976.

“Literally the way I kind of memorialize it, or chronicle this, it’s almost like chapters in a book. It was a storybook season,” Ensor said. “The name of the book is ‘The Perfect Season.’ Everywhere along the way, there are mile markers that we hit that made it such an incredible season.”

For the team’s historic performance, as well as how the community embraced the team and its culture through the inaugural season, the Amarillo Sod Poodles have been named one of the 2019 AGN Media Headliners.

The team will be celebrated during the Man and Woman of the Year Luncheon at 11:30 a.m. Jan. 30 in the Heritage Room of the Amarillo Civic Center Complex, located at 401 S Buchanan St. Tickets for the event can be purchased at www.amarillo.com/rsvp.

At the beginning of the process, Ensor said he predicted the team was going to be successful based on the community’s response.

“There was no doubt in my mind or in our ownership’s mind or the people who work here in this building. We knew what we were creating,” Ensor said. “We knew what kind of market we had, that this was a very knowledgeable baseball market, a very savvy market that was really hungry for baseball… We knew if we delivered what the community wanted, that we would be successful. I think we did that.”

When the Sod Poodles teamed up with the Padres, Ensor said he knew the ballclub had great talent in its farm system, like Fernando Tatis Jr. and Mackenzie Gore. Because of that talent, Ensor had high expectations.

“We knew we were going to have a good team,” he said. “I don’t think any of us dreamed of what we would accomplish out on the field.”

On June 17, which was the final day of the first half of the season, the Sod Poodles clinched the Texas League South Division first half title, with a little bit of help. According to the AGN Media archives, the team clinched the title after the Midland Rockhounds lost and Amarillo defeated Northwest Arkansas 8-2 on the road.

While that first half title clinched the Sod Poodles a spot in the playoffs, the team struggled towards the end of the season, Ensor said. In the divisional series against Midland, the Sod Poodles lost the first two games at home yet came back to win the series 3-2.

After the divisional series win, the Sod Poodles clinched the championship series, defeating the Tulsa Drillers in the Sod Poodles’ fifth elimination game of the playoffs. According to the AGN Media archives, outfielder Taylor Trammell, who the Padres received from the Reds at the trade deadline, hit a go-ahead grand slam to help the team defeat the Drillers 8-3 in the final game.

Ensor said the fans helped the team’s momentum during some key games throughout the season as well as the playoffs. This was evident during the team’s 23 consecutive sell-out streak.

“To say that we were a juggernaut of a team, I don’t think is a correct way to put it,” he said. “We had a great chemistry on the team. We had great players. There were many many many games when we would have been out of a game then our fans wouldn’t let us get out of a game… They pushed this team. The players think that, our coaching staff think that. (The fans) were that 10th man that not too many ballparks have. When you think about why we won the championship, you really have to look at our fans. There is no other way around it. We were a good team but with our fans, they made us a great team.”

After winning the Texas League championship, the team was deemed the 2019 Minor League Team of the Year by Baseball America, according to the archives. Other accolades the team received after the championship win included Ensor receiving the Texas League Executive of the Year award, Phillip Wellman being recognized as the league’s Manager of the year and the team being recognized as the league’s Organization of the Year.

Hodgetown, the home of the Sod Poodles, also received recognition. According to the archives, Hodgetown received the 2019 Texas Downtown Association President’s Award for Best New Construction in a city of 50,000 or more in October.

Going into the 2020 season, Ensor fully expects the team to continue to be successful, due to the talent of the prospects in the Padres system. Along with an exciting promotional schedule, as well as hosting the 2020 Texas League All-Star Game, Ensor said he does not expect the momentum to slow down.

The team’s journey through the 2019 season would not have happened without the community’s support, Ensor said.

“The hero of the whole thing is our fans in the community,” he said. “Without the response from the community and how they fell in love with this team, embraced this team, this ballpark, this whole journey the Sod Poodles were on, without the fans and without the community’s response, there are no accolades. It doesn’t mean anything without the fans. When you talk about the champion of last year, it’s our community.”

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